EAN-13 Specification

EAN 13 the international version of the UPC. It contains two digits more than
the UPC, requiring a total of 13 printed characters.

Structure

Each EAN bar code character is
comprised of two bars and two spaces. The wide elements are multiples of the
narrow elements. Wide elements are composed of one, two, three, or four narrow
elements. There are a total of seven elements in each EAN character.

Symbol Creation

An EAN 13 symbol consists of a start character, a flag character, the left
side data field, the left bar character, the right side data field, the check
digit and stop character.

Start Character

The start character is used at the beginning of the symbol to provide the bar
code reader with start instructions. The start character pattern is 101.

Left Side Data Field

The left side data field consists of six odd and even parity characters. Odd
parity characters consist of three or five bars while even parity characters
contain two or four bars. A suppressed number system is coded by the sequence of
odd and even parity characters used in the left side data field.

Flag character

A suppressed number system is implied by the sequence of odd and even parity
characters. First determine the number system required. Then use the table below
to find the corresponding odd and even parity sequence which the left side data
characters will follow.

Left Side Odd Parity Characters

Odd parity characters are comprised of three or five bars.

Left Side Even Parity Characters

Even parity characters are comprised of two or four bars.

left Bar

The left bar is a special character used to separate the left side data field
from the right side data field. The left bar character pattern is 01010.

Right Side Data Field

The right side data field consists of six even parity characters: five digits
plus the modulus 10 check digit.

Right Side Even Parity Characters

Unique bar patterns are used to distinguish the characters used in the right
side data field from those used in the left side data field. For the right side
data field, even parity characters are used which are different from the even
parity characters used for the left side data field.

Stop Character

The stop character is used to signify the end of the symbol. The stop
character pattern is 101.

First Flag Character Encodation for EAN 13

First Flag Second Flag Data Characters
Character Character 1 2 3 4 5
0 A A A A A A
1 A A B A B B
2 A A B B A B
3 A A B B B A
4 A B A A B B
5 A B B A A B
6 A B B B A A
7 A B A B A B
8 A B A B B A
9 A B B A B A